Call for applications: APFSD Youth Forum 2025

The forum aims to ensure young people’s voices and realities are included in setting the regional agenda on sustainable development, empower young people through meaningful interactions and conversations with various stakeholders, and approach the sustainable development agenda with an intersectional, youth, human rights, and justice lens.

ARROW and the regional co-convenors, Youth LEAD, and YPEER Asia-Pacific have been organising the annual APFSD Youth Forum since 2017. Since 2022, we are joined by regional youth networks, such as Major Group for Children and Youth and Children and Youth Major Group to UNEP.

The APFSD Youth Forum engages 400-500 adolescents and young people in the age group of 13-30 years from across Asia and the Pacific region to develop National, Sub-Regional and Regional Youth Call to Action.

2025 is a crucial year for ARROW and Co-conveners with Goal 3 (good health and well- being) and Goal 5 (Gender Equality) being assessed at the APFSD along with Goal 8 (decent work and economic growth); 14 (life below water) and 17 (partnership for the Goals).

APFSD Youth Forum 2025 Theme

In alignment with the goals under review in HLPF 2025 and APFSD 2025, the youth forum will focus on the review, gaps and challenges of the 5 goals. The overarching theme for the youth forum is “Advancing sustainable, inclusive, science- and evidence-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs for leaving no young person behind in Asia and the Pacific”. 

The outcomes of the APFSD Youth Forum, which is primarily the APFSD Youth Call to Action, will feed into the APFSD Intergovernmental Forum 2025, the High-Level Political Forum 2025, as well as the ECOSOC Youth Forum 2025.

We are also looking forward to abstracts submission and innovation proposals on climate action, gender equality and human rights, health and wellbeing, young people’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) information and services, Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE), decent work, and partnerships to realise SDGs in the Asia and Pacific.

APFSD Youth Forum 2025 Objectives

The APFSD Youth Forum 2025 aims to:

• To ensure young people’s voices, their realities and perspectives are meaningfully included, in setting, transforming and implementing the regional agenda on sustainable development, with specific reference to the intergovernmental APFSD and HLPF 2025.
• To sustain the dedicated youth convening space of “APFSD Youth Forum” and discuss SDG implementation with focus on “Advancing sustainable, inclusive, science- and evidence-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs for leaving no one behind in Asia and the Pacific”.
• To assess the progress, gaps, and challenges in the implementation of SDGs slated for in depth review including SDG 3,5,8,14 and17 from young people’s lens, and also address structural and systemic barriers to youth inclusion in sustainable development.
• To contribute to the voluntary national review process, from a youth perspective.
• To develop the Youth Call to Action at regional, sub-regional and national level to inform the intergovernmental APFSD, HLPF, and ECOSOC Youth Forum in 2025.